Farah - claimed shock victory.

By David Martin, PA Sport

Mohamed Farah and Becky Lyne secured surprise victories in the Newcastle/Gateshead road races as an exceptional summer season for both British athletes ended on a high.

They triumphed in the David Lloyd Leisure Great North Mile, beating quality fields containing overseas and domestic rivals.

Farah, who lost last month's European 5,000metres gold medal by less than half a stride, flung himself over the line to clinch a photo-finish victory.

The Somalia-born 23-year-old denied Ivan Heshko a hat-trick of wins in the race. Heshko had to settle for second, although he was given the same time - four minutes and 5.5 seconds - as Farah.

Kenya's Alex Kipchirchir, the world indoor champion and World Athletics Final gold medalist, was just three hundredths of a second behind.

"Remember those were world-class athletes out there," said Farah.

Farah will rest for a couple of weeks before turning his attention to winning the European Cross Country title in mid-December.

Lyne's victory was every bit as surprising as Farah's.

Competing in only her second road race, the European 800m bronze medalist clocked four minutes and 40.3 seconds, pushing Tatyana Golovchenko into second place.

Golovchenko, Russia's World Student Games 1,500m silver medalist, was 0.99secs adrift, with Poland's Justyna Lesman third in 4:45.4.

"I couldn't get used to it," said 24-year-old Lyne.

"It felt like I was running a lot quicker than I was and I'm not used to holding a steady pace.

"I've been running in a park to get the whole mentality of road running and I just thought I'd follow the leaders and when I decided to go, I gave them no chance."

Meseret Defar and Craig Mottram delighted the huge crowds at the Newcastle Quayside finish, setting new world road running best performances for 3,000m.

Defar lowered the previous women's figure of eight minutes and 53 seconds with 8:46.9.

"It was really hard running on my own and it hurt, but I always thought I could do it," said the Olympic 5,000m champion.

Mottram fought a magnificent duel with defending champion Eliud Kipchoge as both he and the Kenyan shattered the previous men's best of 7:49.

Mottram burst past Kipchoge in the closing 200m to clinch victory by 1.4 seconds in 7:41.7, Ivan Hierro of Spain placing third in 7:54.0.

The 26-year-old Australian said: "I said before the race that winning against Eliud was more important than chasing records but his pace was fast and we both beat the target.

"It's a great way to end the season before I go home to Australia on Monday."